Expansible bracelet construction

ABSTRACT

An expansible bracelet construction is disclosed of the type commonly used for wrist watches and the like comprising top and bottom rows of overlapping staggered links. A leaf spring is provided in each link of at least one of the rows of links. The improvement comprises an opening in a wall of the ink, and projecting means on the spring snugly received within the opening for properly positioning and maintaining the spring with respect to its link, so as to prevent undesirable longitudinal shifting of the spring within its link.

United States Patent [191 Abe [ June 28, 1974 EXPANSIBLE BRACELET CONSTRUCTION [75] Inventor: Katsuhiko Abe, Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee: Brite Industries Inc., Providence,

[22] Filed: Apr. 10, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 242,314

[52] US. Cl 59/79 Rv 51 rm. Cl. F16 '13/24 [58] Field of Search 59/79 R; 63/5 R; 224/4 B, 224/4 D, 4 H

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,689,450 9/1954 Stiegele 59/79 R 2,799,135 7/1957 Dolansky 59/79 R 2,941,351 6/1960 Dolansky 59/79 R 3,084,503 4/1963 Wolf 59/79 R 3,324,649 6/1967 Carlson 59/79 R 3,416,305 12/1968 Rieth 59/79 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,168,681 4/1964 Germany 59/79 R 3/1964 Great Britain 59/79 R 8/1957 Canada 59/79 R Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham Assistant Examiner-Gene P. Crosby Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Salter & Michaelson ABSTRACT on the spring snugly received within the opening for properly positioning and maintaining the spring with respect to its link, so as to prevent undesirable longitudinral s hifting of the spring within its link.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures 1 EXPANSIBLE BRACELET CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Expansible bracelets, such as watch bracelets, comprising top and bottom rows of overlapping, staggered links having resilient means in at least one of said rows of links and further having interconnecting means connecting adjacent links and cooperating with said resilient means to normally bias the bracelet to a contracted position but to permit separation of the links with respect to each other so as to expand the bracelet are old and well known in the art. The basic patent illustrating this general type of construction is Stiegele U.S. Pat. No. 2,689,450 dated Sept. 21, 1954; and it will be understood that in bracelets of this type expansion of the bracelet causes a pivoting of the U-shaped connecting members, which in turn causes compression of the spring means contained in one or both rows of links, whereby when said stretching force on the bracelet is released, the spring means will automatically act on the connecting members to cause the latter to assume their normal position, in which position the bracelet is in its contracted state. There are many other U.S. patents which have issued subsequent to the aforesaid Stiegele patent that also relate to expansible bracelets of this general type, such as, by way of illustration and not limitation, Dolansky U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,135 dated July 16, 1957; Dolansky U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,351 dated June 21, 1960; and Vanover U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,348 dated Mar. 7, 1967. Suffice to state that the general type of expansible bracelet construction shown in the aforesaid patents, as well as many other patents not listed, is extremely well known in the art.

Although this general type of expansible bracelet construction has enjoyed remarkable commerical success, there nevertheless are certain problems in the construction which have tended to minimize its effectiveness. Specifically, it has been found that there is a tendency for the leaf springs to shift or move longitudinally within their respective links during expansion and/or contraction of the bracelet, which shifting or movement tends to lessen the uniformity and smoothness of the spring action that takes place during stretching or contraction of the bracelet. The aforesaid Stiegele U.S. Pat. No. 2,689,450 attempts to overcome this problem by interlocking the ends of the springs with offsets or shoulders provided on the inner surface of the U-shaped connectors, but this type of arrangement creates cost problems due to the specific configuration of the U-shaped members and also because this arrangement does not lend itself to assembly by automatic machinery.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide cooperating means on the spring and its link, which means maintain the spring properly positioned within the link while at the same time in no way interfering with the flexing action of the spring. Quite to the contrary, if anything, the aforesaid positioning means function to improve the flexing action of the spring during stretching or contraction of the bracelet.

Another object is the provision of a bracelet of the character described which readily lends itself to assembly by automatic machinery.

A further object is the provision of a bracelet of the character described that is economically feasible to manufacture, but which is nevertheless durable and effective in use.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top perspective view of an expansible bracelet construction embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an end view showing the bracelet in expanded position;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of FIG. 2 and;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the various components that make up a pair of top and bottom links.

DESCRIPTION OF TI -IE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, there is shown an expansible bracelet construction 10 comprising a row of top links 12 and a row of bottom links 14, said links being of elongated tubular formation and extending transversely across the longitudinal axis of the bracelet 10.

The top links 12, which may be constructed of any suitable metallic material, comprise a top outer wall 16 which may be suitably ornamented on its outer surface as illustrated and depending side walls 18 which are turned inwardly so as to form bottom wall 20. The bottom links 14, which are also constructed of any suitable metallic material, comprise an outer bottom wall 22 having upwardly extending side walls 24 having inwardly extending portions 26 which define the inner top wall of the links 14. It is important to note that the portions 26 define a centrally disposed opening 28, the purpose of which will hereinafter become apparent.

Each link 12 and 14 has provided therein an elongated leaf spring 30 having bent-in portions 32 and inwardly extending portions 34 which terminates at laterally extending folds 36, which folds are interconnected by a shallow concave portion 38. It will be understood that the springs 30 are dimensioned so that they extend substantially from end to end within their respective links and also substantially from side to side with respect thereto. The springs 30 are positioned within their respective links so that the fold lines 40 adjacent the opposite ends of the spring resiliently bear against the outer wall of the link, while the fold lines 36 resiliently bear against the inner wall of the link. A pair of U-shaped connecting members 42 are slidably inserted at the ends of each link and function to interconnect each link with the adjacent overlapping links of the other row, all in a well-known manner as described and illustrated in the aforesaid Stiegele U.S. Pat. No. 2,689,450. When so arranged, the legs 44 of the connector members 42 are positioned between fold lines 40 and the adjacent outer wall of the link; whereupon when the links are stretched so as to expand the bracelet, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the connector members 42 will rotate or pivot so as to cause the leg portions 44 to compress the ends of the springs 30. It will therefore be seen that when the stretching force on the bracelet is released, the springs 30 will resiliently urge the connector members 42 to the normal position illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein the bracelet is its contracted position.

Although the springs 30 are shown in both the top and bottom links of my construction, it has been found that the bracelet will function in the aforesaid manner even if springs are located only in one of the rows of links; although in such an event the resilient force normally biasing the bracelet to its contracted position will be proportionately reduced. In order to maintain the aforesaid parts properly assembled, the top outer wall 16 of top links 12 are provided with extending portions 46 at opposite extremities thereof, which portions are bent inwardly to overlie the bight portion of connector elements 42, as illustrated.

It is important to note that the centrally positioned opening 28 in the top inner wall of bottom links 14 is dimensioned so as to snugly receive therein the spaced fold lines 36 of the springs 30 positioned in the bottom links 14. Thus it will be seen that the fold lines 36 actually function as spaced projections which extend upwardly and which engage opposite extremities of the opening 28 so as to position the spring 30 with respect to the link 14 in such a way as to prevent longitudinal movement or shifting of the spring within its link. This is highly advantageous, because in practice it has been found that repeated flexing of the bracelet has a tendency to cause the spring to shift longitudinally within its link, thus adversely affecting the smoothness and uniformity of the spring action. Furthermore, the fact that the fold lines 36 in links 14 are not actually bearing against the inner wall of the link results in a smoother and freer flexing of the ends 32, 34 of the spring. If desired, although not shown in the drawing, inner wall of top links 12 may also be provided with central openings similar to the openings 28 in bottom links 14, in order to receive its spring members in the same manner. In the embodiment shown, however, where the top links are closed at their ends by the bent-over portions 46, it is not essential that the spring interlock with the link in the manner that the springs of the bottom links 14 do.

Since the bottom inner walls 20 of links 12 are in engagement with the top inner walls 26 of the bottom links 14, and since these walls slidably move with respect to each other when the bracelet is stretched or contracted, it is important that the fold lines or projections 36 do not extend upwardly beyond the top surface of the portions 26. Preferably, the projections or fold lines 36 terminate in a plane substantially flush with the outer surface of the wall portions 26.

In practice it has been found that the aforesaid interlock between spring 30 and links 14 not only facilitates proper assembly and positioning of the springs within their respective links, but also results in a smoother and more uniform flexing action of the spring during stretching and contraction of the bracelet in addition to the fact that the spring is maintained in its proper position within the link and is prevented from shifting or sliding longitudinally with respect thereto during flexing of the bracelet, such as frequently happens in prior art constructions of this type and which has proven to be disadvantageous from the reasons stated.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an expansible bracelet construction of the type comprising top and bottom rows of overlapping staggered links with each link extending in a direction generally transverse to the length of the bracelet, and having means interconnecting the links of each row with the links of the other row so as to permit separation of adjacent side-by-side links with respect to each other when the bracelet is stretched longitudinally from a contracted to an expanded position, said interconnecting means extending from a link of one row to an adjacent link of the other row and cooperating with resilient means in at least one row of said links for normally biasing the bracelet toward its contracted position, said resilient means comprising a leaf spring in each link of said row extending substantially from one end of the link to the other and substantially thereacross, each link in said top row comprising a top outer wall, a bottom inner wall, and a pair of opposite side walls, each link in said bottom row comprising a bottom outer wall, a top inner wall, and a pair of opposite side walls, the said inner walls of one of said rows of links having an opening therein located approximately halfway between the ends of each link and extending completely thereacross, said springs each having portions adjacent its opposite ends resiliently bearing against the outer wall of its respective link, said springs each further having a laterally extending fold adjacent the central portion thereof and extending completely thereacross, said fold extending into and being snugly received by said gaging within said opening adjacent ends of the latter. a: 

1. In an expansible bracelet construction of the type comprising top and bottom rows of overlapping staggered links with each link extending in a direction generally transverse to the length of the bracelet, and having means interconnecting the links of each row with the links of the other row so as to permit separation of adjacent side-by-side links with respect to each other when the bracelet is stretched longitudinally from a contracted to an expanded position, said interconnecting means extending from a link of one row to an adjacent link of the other row and cooperating with resilient means in at least one row of said links for normally biasing the bracelet toward its contracted position, said resilient means comprising a leaf spring in each link of said row extending substantially from one end of the link to the other and substantially thereacross, each link in said top row comprising a top outer wall, a bottom inner wall, and a pair of opposite side walls, each link in said bottom row comprising a bottom outer wall, a top inner wall, and a pair of opposite side walls, the said inner walls of one of said rows of links having an opening therein located approximately halfway between the ends of each link and extending completely thereacross, said springs each having portions adjacent its opposite ends resiliently bearing against the outer wall of its respective link, said springs each further having a laterally extending fold adjacent the central portion thereof and extending completely thereacross, said fold extending into and being snugly received by said opening, and said fold terminating at a plane substantially flush with the outer surface of the wall through which it extends, said opening extending longitudinally of said link for a substantial distance, said springs each having a pair of spaced lateral folds having a shallow concave interconnecting portion, said folds each engaging within said opening adjacent ends of the latter. 